


Mental Magic

by Smoulder



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Gen, Occlumency
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-24
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-28 18:18:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6340132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smoulder/pseuds/Smoulder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a magical experiment is lost by it's creator and turns up in a muggle shop, it changes the life of the muggle who stumbles upon it forever.  But how can a muggle become a part of the magical world at all, much less help defeat Voldemort, end the war, and by so doing get the Dementors off of the streets?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

It was Alexa's eleventh birthday. Her parents had promised to take her to any London shop of her choosing, provided it was within their means, to buy her a present. So naturally, she had chosen the first bookshop they came to. It was a lovely spring day, even here in the heart of the city, but the shop was dim and dusty inside. Wandering through the isles, Alexa was unable to find any children's books that interested her. So when she found a section near the back that contained diaries, journals, and planners, she decided to get a journal. Now that she was eleven, her journal entries would be fascinating and important, even more so if she had a fancy new book to write them in. There was a large variety, but one attracted her because of its strangeness: it had a picture of a boy flying on a broom on the front. As she briefly flipped through it, it appeared empty. In her haste she failed to notice that the first few pages already had text on them. Alexa returned to the front of the shop with her choice, handing it to her parents to purchase. The cashier was perplexed to find that the book wasn't actually an item of merchandise owned by the shop, so he told Alexa's family to wait a moment, and hurried into the back of the shop.

"Excuse me", he began, but was immediately interrupted by the owner of the shop.

"What is it now? Why are you incapable of running the shop for five minutes without being micromanaged?" She scowled up at him from her tax forms.

"I'm very sorry, but this time it is a real problem. A couple came in with a kid and they want to purchase this journal, but I can't locate it in the catalog. What should I do?"

"Well, what do you think? Sell it to them anyway for the price marked on the shelf! Now leave me in peace. Go!" The cashier nervously scuttled away and returned to the front desk. To his relief they didn't seem suspicious when he quoted the price, and were soon on their way with the mysterious journal.

That evening, Alexa settled herself in bed with her present. She smiled to herself as she recalled the events of the day, then opened her brand new journal to record them. Her smile turned to a frown when she saw that there were printed words upon the first few pages. They began 'Chapter One, The Boy Who Lived'. Shrugging, she skipped to the first blank page and began to write: 'Forget all that, the real stuff begins here. Today was my eleventh-'. She stopped in annoyance. Her pen had worked just fine a few days ago, so why didn't it now? Scribbling on a piece of scrap paper, she discovered that there was nothing wrong with her pen. After spending several minutes failing to make a mark on the pages of the journal, she was forced to conclude that the book was the problem, not her writing implement. Extremely disappointed though she was, she gave it a place on her bookshelf. After all it was a book, and therefore deserved some respect. Before Alexa fell asleep, she decided not to tell her parents about this strange development. It seemed too . . . magical to burden adults with.

A few months later, during summer vacation, Alexa awoke to the sound of typing. It didn't sound like her parent's computer, so she crept out of bed, following the noise. It led her to her bookshelf, and grew louder when she opened the mysterious journal. The first few pages were the same as before, but now the text continued on the page she had tried to write on before. Her previous disappointment in her birthday present drained away, replaced by curiosity. Clearly this book was full of magic, and Alexa was determined to find out everything she could. Just then, her mom's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Alex!"

"Yeah?"

"You're dad and I are going shopping, do you want to come?"

"Shopping for what?" asked Alexa impatiently. If it was books, she would go. Anything else was boring.

"Groceries. We're running low on bread and a couple of other things."

"You guys go, I'll stay here. I'd rather sleep in than shop for food."

"Alright, see you later sweetie! Be good!" Alexa heard the door close behind her parents as she returned her attention to the book. It was still typing, and when she turned enough pages she was able to watch the words appear letter by letter. After a while it stopped, so she went back and read the entire thing. The first chapter was a bit confusing, but hopefully it would make sense later. After reading what there was of the second, she was quite engaged. It seemed like a promising story, but now she couldn't read more because the text just ended with Harry Potter in his aunt and uncle's car on the way to the zoo. She reread it a few times and examined the entire book, but found no clues that would help explain the phenomenon. So she put it back and began a different book, one that was required summer reading for her school, and put the mystery to the back of her mind to simmer. But from that day, she checked the book every night before she went to sleep.

In doing this, she began to see a pattern. Sometimes the typing would pause for a few hours, sometimes days, and sometimes weeks, but each time when it finally started again the story would make it clear that whatever amount of time had passed for her, had also passed for Harry. The idea that the story was reporting true events in real time occurred to her, but seemed too good to be true. So the idea lodged in her subconscious and stayed confined there for a long time.

By the next summer, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was full to the end, but a new book had appeared beside it on Alexa's shelf. Her only thought when this happened was that she was glad to be able to continue reading the story, which she loved, without hunting through all of the bookshops in London to find it. She found it easy and exciting to identify with Harry as she shared in his adventures. Soon school started again for Alexa, but she wasn't enjoying it as much as usual. She had never really had friends because she preferred reading books to interacting with people, but now she felt the lack more keenly than before. The loneliness began to get to her, and she grew quiet and stressed. The only times she was relaxed and herself were when she was reading the newest update in the Chamber of Secrets. Her parents noticed the change, and brought her to a professional who suggested meditation might help. So she took classes in meditation that year, and it did help her a lot. At first it was hard to focus her mind enough to let go of her current mental state and enter a deeper, more aware state of consciousness, but with practice and self discipline she grew quite good at it.

The next year, another volume of her growing Harry Potter collection materialized and began to write itself. The beginning of the story gave Alexa a shock as though she had been pleasantly sleeping, then someone dunked her head in a bucket of ice water. The Prisoner of Azkaban started with a description of part of a muggle new broadcast about a dangerous criminal. As Alexa watched the words appear on the page, she simultaneously heard them issuing from the television downstairs where her parents were watching the news. The thought that everything in the books was true, that magic existed and at that very moment Harry was also hearing the same news broadcast as her, sent a shiver through her that was part excitement and part fear. Right then and there, she decided that she would learn to fight, to defend herself, and to explore magic in any way she could as a muggle, in order to be like Harry and to survive in a world where magic was real. Every night she meditated, trying to connect with the magic that was surely around her or the books, and she soon got her parents to sign her up for aikido classes in order to learn self defense and strengthen her body.

Later that year, Alexa finally discovered what she had been seeking through meditation, though she did not know it until she found it. Around her mind, there was a natural structure of sorts, which she visualized as being rather like bark around a tree. It prevented her awareness from extending beyond her body except through her physical senses. She began pushing at this wall, and after a bit of deliberate effort, was able to take it down. What happened next was the most amazing thing she had ever experienced. It was like she had gained a whole new sense, a new way of exploring and interacting with the world, and its suddenness took her breath away. Once she had become more acclimated to the feeling, Alexa stretched out with her mind toward a potted plant in her room, sensing its mind. She was able to detect other minds as well, those of insects as well as a great connected life force all around which she suspected was generated by microscopic life. Alexa soon discovered that the minds around her had barriers that kept them contained, similar to her own which she had broken, but which her mind could pass through to interact with their minds even though they could not get out. From that moment onwards, Alexa never saw the world the same way again. At first it took meditation and focus to explore with her mind, but with practice her mind grew stronger, making it easier to contact others. Soon it became habit to greet and communicate with the non human minds about her every waking minute. She became well acquainted with the plants and animals of her neighborhood, and decided to become vegan as a result, eating mostly fruits when possible. Sensing the minds of other species gave her a deep awareness of their feelings, and a desire not to hurt them if possible. Alexa's parents noticed this change, but since she finally seemed truly happy they didn't bug her about it.

This continued for several years. By Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts, Alexa was strong in mind and body, agile, and had incredible reflexes. Her dedication never wavered significantly, and she found new ways of improving as she read Order of the Phoenix. While Harry struggled with occlumency, she experimented with visualizing mental walls to protect her mind from intrusion. Since, unlike Harry, she didn't have anyone attacking her she couldn't test her walls, but she practiced erecting and maintaining them anyway. By the end of Harry's sixth year, Alexa was a very unusual muggle, thanks to the only copy of the Harry Potter books.


	2. Initiation

The door audibly closed behind Alexa's parents as they departed, probably off on another shopping trip. Alexa didn't give it much thought. Today was Saturday, and last night Harry had said that the ministry infiltration would be today. There was some homework that she really ought to do, but this seemed so much more important. Would they be able to get Slytherin's locket from Umbridge, in the heart of the ministry? Knowing that what she read was happening at that very moment added a level of intensity to the experience. Alexa read along in horror, a ball of fear forming in her gut, as Harry, Ron, and Hermione were separated. She gasped and shuddered along with them as they discovered the oppression of muggles and muggle borns being perpetrated by the ministry of magic. Then, as Harry descended to to dungeon-like lowest floor of the ministry, the phone rang.

"Hold on Harry, I'll be back." Alexa whispered as she reverently replaced the Deathly Hallows upon her shelf. Then she raced downstairs and grabbed the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi. Is this the Miller household?" came the voice from the speaker. Alexa didn't recognize it, but replied anyway.

"Yes, I am Alexa Miller. Why, what's going on, and who are you?"

"Sorry, I should have introduced myself before. I am the receptionist at your local hospital, and I'm calling to let any family members of Sue and Fred Miller know that they are very unwell and currently under our care. Is there anyone else I should call?"

"No . . . no." Alexa whispered.

"Those are my parents, we don't have any other relatives that I know of. What address are they at, can I come see them right now?" The receptionist gave her the address and hung up, leaving Alexa in a panic. What could have happened to them, they were just going shopping and didn't have any health conditions! At least they were still alive. While Alexa felt that her parents had never really understood her, especially after she had awakened her mind, she still loved them deeply and relied on their support. Throughout her life, they had always done their best to help her do and be whatever she wanted, even when they didn't understand fully why she wanted it. These thoughts passed through Alexa's mind as she grabbed her coat and shoes and rushed out the door. Forgetting to lock it, she ran a few blocks, then stopped short. A feeling of cold was creeping through her, bringing with it despair. Yesterday Alexa had been comparatively carefree and happy, but now she was hollow, devoid of any cheerful thought. Something else, something dark was filling her up. She'd heard of people knowing when loved ones died, was this how it felt? Had her parents just left her forever? A strange sound gave her rambling mind pause. It was a sucking, rattling sound, and it seemed to be getting closer. Instinctively reaching out with her mind, she recoiled almost immediately. Something horrible was there, and it explained everything.

"Dementors." she said aloud. Some of them must have gotten her parents. The way the receptionist from the hospital hadn't known that they had no other relatives suggested that her parents were unconscious. They must have been kissed, they were gone, she would never see them again. Even if they were technically alive, she couldn't bear to see. These terrible thoughts were magnified and proliferated by the invisible specters that drifted along the street. Something inside her snapped, panic welled up from within, and she ran. Not toward the hospital, not toward her house, just away. Away from her life.

After an hour of running, the adrenaline had worn off, and even her well toned muscles were tired. At first Alexa's distress blinded her to her location, but after sitting on the sidewalk for a few minutes she realized that she knew her way home. London's streets were familiar to her. Not wanting to return to her house yet, she began to meditate, trying to find peace and accept her tragedy. She reached out to the nearby plant and animal life, begging for comfort and advice. The animals were too busy to listen to her long, but the solid patience of the plants inspired her to search for her inner strength. Her years of meditation served her well as she formed a new resolve: to find Harry Potter and help him weed out and defeat the corruption in the ministry so that no other muggles would suffer her parent's fate. Solemnly, she got to her feet and began to walk home. She would need the magic book to locate Harry. As she walked along, wrapped up in her sadness, her constantly probing mind became aware of another unusual mind. Sharp and strong, but dark and terrifying, it made her look for it's owner. Her eyes instantly found him. Tall, cloaked, and very angry, he stalked down the street issuing verbal abuse and instructions to the shorter cloaked figure beside him. Alexa froze like a deer caught in headlights as he drew closer. On another day, perhaps she might have had the sense to escape, but today the despair was heavy on her. At the same moment as she became aware that the taller cloaked man had red eyes, he noticed her odd behavior; standing still in the middle of the sidewalk staring at him while other muggles hurried past unconcerned.

"Voldemort" she breathed, instantly regretting it as it became apparent that he had heard. She felt his mind touch hers, briefly, and instinctively retracted her mind into the sanctuary of her body. Apparently, it was time to test those mental walls she'd been working on the past two years. Her practice had paid off; erecting them was easy despite her stressed state. As she did so, Voldemort spoke.

"You're a muggle. How do you know who I am? Answer!" The truth flew to the tip of Alexa's tongue before she realized that the best way to help Harry was not to give his mortal enemy an enchanted book that would reveal his plans and location. She stopped herself just in time, but any simple fabrication of the truth which might have saved her remained elusive due to fear. So she said nothing. Voldemort glared at her for a moment, then she felt his mind attack hers with a force she wasn't prepared for. Her wall shattered, but before Voldemort could invade, she summoned all of her reservoirs of mental strength to drive him out. They battled for a few seconds, but Alexa's techniques were alien to Voldemort, and her focus was absolute, so she was able to defeat him. Of course, this clash of wills was invisible to others. All that the cloaked Death Eater beside Voldemort saw was the girl stagger back, but then frown and clench her fists, which made the Dark Lord stumble backwards, angrier than ever.

"I don't have time for this." he hissed.

"Dolohov, take it out of my sight. Your house is nearby, is it not? Lock it up there, and await my return. I have more to say to you about letting Potter and his friends escape from the ministry, and I believe that this muggle has valuable information. It must, or no one would have bothered to teach it occlumency. Now go!" With that, he twisted and disappeared. Weary in mind and body, Alexa tried to fight Dolohov, but with Voldemort's departure some of her fire had gone. The mental battle had taken a lot out of her, as had running across town, and thoughts of her parents kept distracting her. Dolohov apparated a few paces away, then started shooting stunning spells at her. Alexa dodged a couple, but then one hit her and she collapsed on the pavement.

When she awoke, she was chained to the floor of an airy room with a wooden floor and a window in one of the plaster walls. From what she could see and hear, she was in an empty bedroom on the second floor of a London town house. Then her most recent memories hit her, and she groaned. Her parents' souls had been sucked out, she was a prisoner of the Death Eaters, and Voldemort was going to come back at some point to question her. The only good news was that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had escaped from the ministry. However, since they had been detected, they probably hadn't gotten the horcrux. Horcruxes! Alexa knew that Harry was hunting Voldemort's horcruxes. This was bad. For everyone's sake, she had to pull it together. Assuming her usual position despite the chains, she meditated until she felt calm and had reconnected with her inner fire. Then she focused on all of her dangerous memories, the ones related to the books and their contents, and sectioned them away inside a protective wall within her mind. She used what she had learned from her previous encounter with Voldemort to strengthen the wall. While maintaining it, she searched the room mentally for any other life, but it seemed quite clean and empty. Then, outside the door, she discovered the mind of a house fly. Politely entering it, she asked the fly to assist her by going and looking around outside of the house, then returning. Startled as it was by the telepathic experience, the fly agreed and buzzed off. Once it came back, Alexa examined it's most recent memories to discover the street name and house number of her prison. Everything looked strange in the fly's vision, but she was able to read the information she needed. She thanked the fly profusely, as this was essential to her plan.

With nothing to do but wait, Alexa sat patiently, meditating and preparing herself, for two days. Once per day Dolohov gave her some food and water, but never interacted with her. When Voldemort arrived, Alexa sensed it immediately. A ball of fear gathered in her gut, but she took a deep breath and sunk into a meditative state to dispel it. Then she heard a voice that was high and cold, and all too familiar.

"I no longer blame you for Potter's latest escape, but I expect better from you in the future, Dolohov. You'd better not have failed at your most recent task though. Where is the muggle?"

"Up-upstairs my Lord. I can show you." Then came the sound of footsteps on a creaky staircase. Alexa focused her mind and prepared to fight. The door of her room opened, and Voldemort entered. Dolohov was just visible cowering behind him. Voldemort smiled.

"Good Dolohov, you may go now." Dolohov gratefully scurried away.

"Now you. I don't know who you are, but I know that you know who I am. You also appear to have a considerably strong mind. So tell me everything you know about me, how you know it, and how you learned to shield your mind. You've had time to think about your situation. Do as I ask, and I will let you go." He sounded polite, but Alexa knew that pretense would soon disappear. She could sense the anger still simmering behind his calm expression. Defiant retorts flitted through her mind, but she didn't feel that sharing them with her captor would be a wise move. All she wanted at that moment was to leave, to be at home with her parents. So, in a calm measured voice, she said,

"All I know of you is your name. I heard someone else in the vicinity, a stranger, refer to you that way. And I have no idea what you mean by shielding my mind, but I've been taking meditation for years. I may have been in a meditative state when we bumped into each other before." She looked up, to see how he was receiving her answer. Not well, apparently. He looked livid as he hissed,

"Wrong answer. Crucio!" A horrible scream issued from her lips as she collapsed on the floor, writhing in pain. At first it was all-consuming, but then she felt herself separate from it, drifting away. Taking the opportunity to focus, Alexa hid her consciousness in a mental sanctuary, to protect her from the pain. From there she was able to maintain and strengthen the wall that protected the sensitive information. As suddenly as the pain had come, it vanished. Voldemort glowered at her.

"Well? Do you have anything else to say, or do you want some more?"

"I-I do have something else to say." Alexa paused, sat up and took a deep breath, then continued.

"I'm being held at one thirty two Weston Street in London aren't I? And my information is important-"

"Silence! I think you misunderstood the nature of our little chat. Try to get this through your tiny brain, muggle: I will ask the questions, and you will answer. I give you one last chance: will you answer my questions?" Alexa pretended to consider this for a moment, then looked Voldemort right in the eye and spoke loudly and clearly.

"Help me Harry Potter-" she was cut off by a scream. Her scream, she realized, Voldemort was torturing her again, but she was still safe in her sanctuary. Now she prepared her mental walls, and this time Voldemort attacked them. But she was ready, and her wall held. An indeterminate amount of time passed as Alexa focused only on her wall, but the double attack on mind and body began to tire her. She poured the last of her strength into her wall, then promptly lost consciousness.

At the moment when Alexa passed out, Harry Potter woke up, sweating. Glancing around the tent, he saw that his tossing and turning had not awakened Ron or Hermione. This vision had been eerie. Voldemort had been torturing someone, as usual, but his victim seemed to have sensed him somehow. He didn't recognize her, but she had looked him in the eye and asked for help. Not only that, she had given him a street address. He had to help. He'd talk to Ron and Hermione about it in the morning; they would want to help too, he was sure. But for now, he was tired, and didn't want to wake them. So he relaxed, and drifted back to sleep.

When Alexa woke, she was alone, and felt awful. Her body ached all over, she had a terrible headache, and she was hungry. She had a feeling that eating would also help her headache, but despite the sun's position relative to the window, Dolohov brought no food. He had left her some water, however, and once he realized that she was awake he informed her that she would not get any more food until she was ready to talk. Alexa sighed, but gave no other indication that she had heard. It appeared that there was nothing she could do other than rest and conserve energy, exercise her mind, and hope that Harry had gotten her message. Because without food, she suspected that she would weaken and no longer be able to defend her mind.

That morning, Harry tried to tell his friends about his vision. However, they weren't as receptive as he had hoped.

"Hey guys, I wanted to tell you about this vision I had last night." Harry began, but Hermione cut him off.

"Harry, you aren't supposed to be having these visions anymore! Dumbledore thought it was dangerous!"

"Hermione, please hear me out. I think this is important. Vol-sorry, You-Know-Who was torturing this girl, I think she was about our age but I've never seen her before, for information. I didn't hear exactly what he wanted to know, but he thought it was important. He was incredibly angry, because she wouldn't tell him anything. But then, she told him the address where she was, and I think she knew I was there, watching. She looked me in the eye and asked me for help."

"What do you mean, she asked for help? Did she just call for help in general, or did she ask you specifically?" Hermione narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"You know I want to help people as much as you do, but the only way to end this nightmare is by focusing on destroying the horcruxes. It sounds like another trap to me, like the one with the prophecy at the ministry." Harry flinched at this reminder of his mistake, but said nothing. Ron wasn't feeling at all well after his splinch during their latest escape, but he spoke up.

"She's got a fair point mate. Giving you the address? It's too convenient. Anyway, I don't think it's common knowledge that you occasionally get these visions." Harry's brow furrowed as he considered these arguments.

"I don't know. She said Harry Potter, so that's pretty clear, and the vision felt genuine. In retrospect, something felt slightly different about that fake one from our fifth year. If this is real, we need to help for sure. You-Know-Who believes that she knows something important, and if that's true, we can't let him find out. I realize that you can't help at this time Ron, but Hermione can stay here with you while I go."

"No way Harry!" Hermione exclaimed.

"If it's that important to you, I'll go. They're after you, so you should stay safe here with Ron. I'll be very careful, scout out the situation, then come back. Now what was that address?"

"Wait, Hermione, you're wanted too!" Ron cried.

"Yeah, I appreciate it, but I don't want anything to happen to you," Harry agreed. "it's my crazy idea." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I can take care of myself, you know. The question is, can you take care of each other for five minutes while I'm gone!"

"Fine. We'll all be fine. It's one thirty two Weston street in London, and it looked like it was on an upper floor. Thanks Hermione, I appreciate it." Hermione simply nodded, walked away from the tent, and disapparated.

Alexa did her best to conserve her energy for the next few days, lying still for the most part and dozing on and off. She couldn't seem to get any proper sleep, but figured it was probably better to be on the watch at all times anyway. As the endless hours ticked past and her muscles stiffened from lack of use, the lack of stimulation other than lingering pain and growing hunger became a special mental torture. To distract herself from thoughts of her parents, Alexa constantly searched for other minds in the vicinity. Finally, she detected an unfamiliar human mind full of sharp purpose, and prodded it gently. In doing so she discovered that the owner of the mind identified as Hermione, and was likely there to help her. Now was the moment where she would apply her years of practice communicating with minds to a human mind. Alexa wasn't counting Voldemort, as she had not had to initiate that contact. She gently reached into Hermione's mind, then transferred some thoughts to her.

"Hello . . . are you Hermione Granger? I recently asked Harry Potter for assistance. If you are, and you are here to help me escape, please show me a memory that will confirm your identity before I divulge any sensitive information to you." Alexa sensed the confusion in Hermione, and the thought that she was there to help but didn't know anything about showing memories. So Alexa carefully poked through Hermione's most recent memories, until she came to some that matched what she had read about their recent ministry infiltration. Satisfied, and eager to escape, eat food, and help take down Voldemort's regime, Alexa gave Hermione the information she had gleaned from insects about the layout of the house and location of her prison. She also warned that Dolohov was home, but he was the only one. Then she retracted her mind so as not to make Hermione nervous. Extending her mind that far also tired her out faster and was difficult to sustain. There was nothing helpful she could do now, except to wait and stretch her muscles, which she did. While she kept her mind within its usual confines, she was still able to gain information by listening. A minute or two after she contacted Hermione, she heard a loud crashing and felt the house shake. Then there was a gasp of shock, a thud, and the creaking of someone ascending the stairs. Moments later, a voice which could only be Hermione's issued from outside.

"Are you near the door?"

"No." Alexa answered, nervously backing as far away from it as was allowed by her chains. The door was blasted to smithereens, and Hermione darted in.

"There was only one Death Eater here like you said, but when I was scouting out the situation over the past few days I found that visiting Death Eaters often drop in due to the convenience of the location to the ministry. We'd better not waste any time." As she spoke, she pointed her wand at the point where the chains were bolted to the floor, and it was blasted apart. Hermione unceremoniously dragged the shell shocked Alexa, who had never seen actual magic spells before this except in her head, down the stairs and out the door. She then hurried her off the property and disapparated her away, still trailing a chain from each limb.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!


	3. Training

Hermione and Alexa materialized in a seemingly empty forest. Then Harry temporarily lifted enough of the protective spells around their camp to allow them to enter. As they did so, Harry grinned at Hermione.

"Did it go okay? Thanks a lot for doing this, I really appreciate it and I'm glad you're safe. Hey, Ron, Hermione's back and she got the prisoner!" Ron sighed with relief and his face relaxed as they entered the tent, but then it returned to its former sullen expression. Harry sighed and turned to Alexa.

"Please have a seat. Do you want to tell us what's going on, and why and how you asked us for help?"

"Yes, I will explain everything, and I am very grateful that you rescued me. Hermione was amazing. A bit scary, but amazing. However I need some food first as I've only had two small meals since you guys broke into the ministry last week. Do you have any, please? Also, it would be nice to get out of these chains." Harry, Ron, and Hermione glanced at each other. Then Harry spoke.

"The chains shouldn't be a problem, but as for the food, we're rather short ourselves at the moment." He paused, considering the problem. Alexa became aware of another way she could help them.

"Okay then. There is food at my house, if one of you apparates me there we can get a lot for all of us. Besides, there's something else that it is vitally important that I fetch. What do you think?"

"Brilliant. Hermione, will you take her?" Harry replied. Hermione nodded, and led Alexa back outside.

"Let's take care of those before we go any further." Hermione suggested, pointing her wand at each shackle in turn, causing it to spring open.

"Thanks Hermione. If it was that easy though, why did you blow up the floor instead of just doing that in the first place?"

"I wasn't sure it would work, so in interest of saving time, I used a technique which I was sure would work first time. I figured there would be plenty of time back here at the campsite to sort you out afterwards."

"Fair enough, makes sense. Now let me give you the destination. This will be easiest." said Alexa, reaching out with her mind. "Ready?" Hermione nodded again, and Alexa transferred a memory of standing inside her kitchen to her. Hermione grabbed her arm and twisted them both into darkness. One uncomfortable moment later, they were back home. Tears started to run down Alexa's face as happy memories flooded back, but she forced herself to stay on task. Together, she and Hermione stuffed all the food that was transportable into Hermione's beaded bag, then Alexa turned to her.

"The other thing we need to get is upstairs. I'll be right back." Hermione shrugged waited in the kitchen as Alexa darted off. As she went, Alexa noticed that several things, such as the television, seemed to be missing. Possibly this was related to the fact that she had neglected to lock the front door. Oh well, it didn't matter now, as long as the books were safe. It seemed unlikely that a thief would find them valuable. In a moment she was back in her room, where she lifted all seven Harry Potter books from her shelf. A minute later, when she handed them to Hermione to stow, Hermione stared at her.

"How did you get these, and what are they?"

"Later. Let's go back, I'm starving." Hermione nodded and gave her a funny look, then apparated them both back to the campsite, where Harry again facilitated their entrance. Hermione unloaded the things they had gotten then began to examine the books in wonder. Meanwhile, Alexa prepared some quick sandwiches for them. Harry dragged the table over to Ron's bed so they could all eat together, then the four hungry teenagers devoured the food. Afterwards they felt much better, and Alexa began to explain her situation.

"So, I am a muggle as you may know. I know about you and the wizarding world because of these books. It seems that they describe events as they happen, but not everything that occurs gets into them. It's sort of made into a story, and it basically describes Harry's life."

"Wow . . . that's crazy. So you know everything about me?"

"Pretty much. That's how I knew that you would probably see me when You-Know-Who was there." Ron nodded.

"That makes some sense. But how did you come by them? It's illegal for witches and wizards to let muggles get magical artifacts like these." Alexa described the circumstances that led to her getting the first book, and how the others had materialized. Then Hermione spoke up.

"What I want to know is how you got into my head. It was kind of freaky, but not unpleasant or invasive the way legilimency is. What was that about?"

"Well . . . that's a long story. Basically, when we were thirteen I discovered how to extend my mind and use it to explore nearby minds. I was able to exert enough mental control to do this because I had become adept at meditation previously. As for what I did to Hermione, that was just a different form of legilimency. I believe it to be like the difference between smashing down the door of someone's house, disabling the owner, and rummaging through everything looking for what you want; and knocking politely and having the owner willingly invite you in and show you what you want. Either way you're entering someone's house and seeing something of theirs, but only one way harms the owner. It seems like most wizards only know about the first way, but the second way is actually much easier and better for both parties, unless the owner is trying to hide something. Does that answer your question?" Hermione nodded, frowning slightly, and they all sat in silence for a moment, thinking.

"Did I miss anything important that you wanted to know?" Alexa asked. Ron rolled his eyes and said,

"Yeah, just two things. First, what is your name, and second, why were you captured?"

"Oh, right. Sorry. I'm Alexa, and since I have rotten luck I just happened to run into You-Know-Who on the street shortly after you escaped the ministry. He could tell that I knew something, so he tried to legilimens me, but I blocked him. That was when I realized that the information in those books was very dangerous, because it occasionally reveals your location, and in the sixth it tells all about your quest to destroy You-Know-Who's horcruxes. When he failed, he got Dolohov to imprison me, and you basically know the rest. I remembered that Harry's visions most often occur when You-Know-Who is torturing people, and I figured it was likely that he would be angry enough at being beaten by a muggle to bridge the connection. So he didn't find out about the books or the horcruxes, but it's a good thing you rescued me when you did because his next plan was to starve me, and it was working even after a few days. I could feel my mind getting weaker." Silence followed this statement. Then Harry spoke.

"Thanks for protecting us. It's clear that we will have to protect you now so the information in your head will be safe. Any ideas?"

"We could wipe all her memories", Ron suggested. "Then she could live in hiding with your aunt and uncle."

"No, wait! You don't have to hide me, and please don't wipe my memory. Your cause means everything to me, and I can help! Harry, I can teach you occlumency. Actually I can teach all of you. And I'll teach you to communicate telepathically, and I can fight! Besides, it will be easy for me to obtain food for us. Please, let me join your group!" In desperation, Alexa stretched her mind, intending to directly communicate her feelings. However, her mind touched something else, something that brought her fear back and caused her to panic. She shouted out, and the others stared at her.

"What's wrong, are you feeling alright?" Hermione asked. "We're not going to attack you and wipe your memory this second, there's no need to freak out."

"As a matter of fact I am not feeling all right, this has been the worst week of my life and I feel terrible. That's not what's wrong though, You-Know-Who is here! I felt his mind, I'd recognize it anywhere!" Harry jumped to his feet, wand out, but Hermione just smiled.

"Where is he, Alexa?" Alexa felt for the mind again, pointed at Ron, then grinned as well when she noticed the heavy gold chain around his neck.

"Sorry for the false alarm. You guys did get that horcrux, didn't you? Awesome." Harry and Ron still looked confused, so Hermione explained.

"She sensed You-Know-Who's mind in the horcrux. I don't know about you guys, but I think she could be a helpful teammate, especially if she can teach us to detect the horcruxes with our minds." Harry and Ron agreed to this assessment, so Alexa officially became a member of the group.

"Thanks guys. I'll do my very best; all I want to do is help. But now, if you'll excuse me, I haven't slept properly for a week. Can I just use one of these vacant beds?"

"Of course. Thank you for abandoning your life to help us." Hermione said as Alexa settled down. Alexa was going to tell Hermione that her life was destroyed anyway, but she had barely released the tension from her muscles when she fell into a deep sleep.

Alexa awoke the next morning to the smell of oatmeal. Harry was cooking some breakfast. She realized that she was feeling much better already after food and sleep, and also that it was time to continue her aikido exercises. Approaching Harry, she asked whether there were any plans for the day already.

"Nope, not yet. We still have to determine where another horcrux might be before we do anything else, or find something to destroy the one we've got. Also, we haven't been here long, so we can probably stay a few more days. Why, did you want to start occlumency lessons?"

"Yeah, definitely. The sooner the better. I think I've worked out how to make your mind stronger, and unfortunately it's going to take some patience. It could be easier for you guys because of your magic , but we'll just have to see." Alexa replied.

"Sounds good to me, let's eat and talk to Ron and Hermione before we make any plans though." A few minutes later, Ron and Hermione were up, and they all shared a cheerful breakfast. Alexa was simply amazed that she was already doing so well with her goals, and it was heartening for the others to have gained a new ally. The later risers easily agreed to Harry and Alexa's idea for how to spend the day, merely adding that it would be good to spend the evening trying to work out the location of another horcrux, or of something that could be used to destroy the one they had. So after breakfast, Alexa brought everyone outside to learn to meditate in a natural setting, even Ron, who was healing much faster with adequate food. Following Alexa's instructions, they all sat on the ground cross legged with palms facing up, and focused on their breathing. As they did this, Alexa coached them on how to reach a meditative state.

"Focus your mind on breathing, let everything else go . . . when other thoughts or emotions come up, observe them, but don't think or feel them . . . just let your mind be at peace. Now try to stay in that relaxed state, and I'll give you a little help entering deep meditation." Meditating herself, Alexa focused intensely on reaching for all three of her new allies simultaneously. It was tricky, and required a lot of concentration, but to her delight it was possible to connect with all three. Once the connections were established, she cautiously pushed the feelings and energy that she derived from meditation into their minds. The effect was immediately observable to her. With her help, they dipped into a deeper meditative state. Because it was working so well, Alexa continued to let the energy flow from her mind to theirs until, without warning, she fell unconscious. Neither Harry, Ron, nor Hermione noticed as they were all deep within their own minds. After a couple of minutes, Alexa woke up, and saw that they were all still meditating.

"I am an idiot." She thought to herself, amused. "Time to figure out what happened there." So she sank back into meditation and explored the movement of energy within her mind until she gained some understanding of what she had done.

Wanting to be reasonably cautious with their food resources, the teens only had a few bites each for lunch. Afterwards, Alexa described how to visualize a wall encircling their minds, which would protect them from legilimency. That evening, they scoured the Harry Potter books for clues that they had missed or forgotten, and picked Alexa's brain since it was possible she had gained some new information, searching for anything that could lead them to a horcrux. That night they went to sleep still optimistic about their chances.

The next few days continued in a similar manner, but none of their efforts seemed to be yielding any results, save one. Alexa had been taking time to work out as well, and was soon back in shape. But they discovered no new leads on their mission to destroy the horcruxes, Harry Ron and Hermione still couldn't enter deep meditation without Alexa's assistance, and while they could create mental walls, the gentlest touch from Alexa's mind was enough to shatter them. On top of their lack of success, the food they had taken from Alexa's house was already running low. The pessimistic attitudes, especially Ron's, began to return as they packed up and apparated to another wood. The only muggle money they had between them was a five-pound note, but after carefully studying it Hermione was able to transfigure many leaves into more of them. These they gave to Alexa, who set off towards the nearest muggle town to purchase food. As she left, she heard Ron asking Hermione about the legality of transfiguring money.

"Hermione, that was crazy! Why don't wizards do that all the time with their money?"

"Well if they did, the money would lose value very quickly. So there are spells to prevent that and alert the ministry if anyone tries to, for example, create a galleon. The ones I made in our fifth year were different enough so I wouldn't be detected."

"But the muggle money isn't protected? Why doesn't everybody just create a bunch of muggle money, then find some way to transfer that wealth to the magical world? Why is any witch or wizard poor?" Hermione sighed.

"Ron, that's illegal. Unless you only do very small amounts, the ministry will catch on, and you will be in big trouble with the misuse of muggle artifacts office. The reason I did it, and intend to keep doing it anyway should be fairly obvious."

"Yeah, we're already on the run from the ministry anyway, so we may as well not starve. I got it." Ron sighed, and resumed his usual glum expression. Alexa continued to her destination, a muggle market.

"This is a dangerous mission," she told herself. "That's why they sent me, not only will I blend in better, I'm slightly more expendable, and if captured I can conceal our secrets. I will infiltrate the perilous market and obtain my quarry." Then she sighed. Who was she kidding? This was important, but not at all exciting. Still, she was helping. Her assistance would surely make a difference in ending the reign of terror and freeing the muggles of oppression and dementors. With that thought, she halted, then crept forward more stealthily. She was nearing the edge of town, and didn't want to run into any trouble. When sensing the path ahead with her mind didn't reveal any enemies, she straightened up and strolled into town like a normal person. Hardly anyone was on the streets, and they paid her no notice. They seemed reluctant to be seen, preferring to remain in the dilapidated houses with the shutters closed. The market was small and understaffed, but she was able to purchase enough good, filling food with the counterfeit money to fill the bag she had brought. Then, as she was ambling away towards the woods, she saw a cloaked and hooded figure out of the corner of her eye. To her dismay, the figure turned to follow her. She'd have to lose them before going anywhere near camp. She took several turns, still heading in the approximate right direction, and the figure was still tailing her. Taking a chance, she walked up to one of the houses that had some yard around it. She was able to conceal herself in some bushes, aided by the fact that it was now dusk. If she'd hoped that her stalker would assume that she was a harmless resident of the property she was now trespassing on, she was disappointed. Once it was fully dark, she heard a voice mutter,

"Homenum Revelio". Alexa thought as fast as she could, but couldn't see any way to conceal herself from the spell. She sensed it rushing toward her; in moments the cloaked person, who was surely a Death Eater, would know that she was crouching in the bushes. Therefore, the best she could do was to give herself a head start. Grabbing the food bag, she ran around the house, the spell catching up with her just as she passed it. Then she darted over the back fence, sped through the yard as silent as a shadow, and onto another street. Her plan was simply to run for the forest and attempt to conceal herself there, but the Death Eater appeared directly in front of her in a twirl of cloaks. She very nearly ran into them, but instead knocked them out with a swift blow to the neck area. They had apparated far too close to her, apparently misjudging her speed. Pausing only to collect the Death Eater's wand, Alexa dashed into the cover of the woods, hoping to avoid more attention.

After locating a fair hiding place, Alexa rested her legs, and strained both mind and ordinary senses to detect any information. There was no one near enough for her mind to feel, but she could hear footsteps in the woods a ways off around the town. It seemed that this tiny town in the middle of nowhere was patrolled by Voldemort's followers, or at least creepy wizards in robes. Why would that be? It didn't seem very important, and they couldn't know that Undesirable Number One would be nearby. Although, if it weren't for the Death Eaters, it would be the perfect place to hide out from the law. Access to necessities, dense woods to hide in, removed from any city, no dementors, remote and obscure . . . it was a wonder more people who were on the run weren't here! Or maybe they were, she thought, remembering the footsteps. That would explain the patrol at least, if they'd already caught someone here. Likely they had followed her to see if she was a criminal on the run or an innocent resident before attacking, just because if all of the residents left or were killed the criminals wouldn't be as attracted to the town. Feeling rested, and confident that no one was close by, Alexa emerged from hiding, shouldered the pack of food, and walked back to camp. All her senses were on the alert for other humans, and the wand she had taken was in her hand. She wouldn't be able to use it, but it might come in handy for intimidating, confusing, or distracting any opponent she might meet. However she got back to the campsite without any other issues. Harry had been up reading the books Alexa had brought, and so he let her through the protective enchantments. When he heard about the situation in town, he agreed that the risk was too great and they should move before getting more food.

Despite the fact that the teens again had something to eat, the glum mood continued. Ron was especially grouchy, and began to blame their difficulties on Harry and Alexa.

"Harry has no idea what he's doing, and Alexa is distracting us with these bloody meditation lessons!" he ranted. Hermione would squabble with him about it whenever he voiced these opinions, and Harry would pretend to ignore them. Alexa was unused to having human friends, and was therefore baffled as to the best way to respond. She settled for her usual method of dealing with people, which was not to talk or interact more than absolutely necessary, keeping her head down and getting her work done. However, it soon became apparent to her that this was not working, so she summoned her courage and confronted Ron.

"Ron, I realize that you believe me to be a distraction. Please face the facts: you guys wouldn't have gotten any further with the horcrux mission even if I hadn't been here. So could you stop blaming me already!" Alexa paused for breath and tried to gauge Ron's reaction. He was glaring at her, but that wasn't anything new. Harry and Hermione were frozen, unsure of what to say or do. Alexa plunged on. "Also, I think you think I'm useless, because I'm a muggle. You've never really interacted with anyone who wasn't part of the magical world, and I think you have internalized some stereotypes. But I'm not useless. Once we get near a horcrux I'll be able to sense it, and you know very well what else I can do." Her rant finished, Alexa folded her arms and glared right back at Ron, who was getting slightly red in the face. Then he stood up and said,

"You know what? You're right. I do think less of you because you're a muggle. So why don't you step up your game and make yourself useful. I dunno, maybe expand your all-powerful mind a little further and just locate all of the horcruxes! Or find a way of teaching us that actually yields results. I'm sick and tired of doing nothing but camping, hiding, and stupid meditation!" Hermione gasped.

"Ron, you can't mean that! Please, take off the horcrux before you do something you'll regret. I've noticed it makes you especially very sullen." Ron scowled darkly, but did remove the chain that bore Slytherin's locket from his neck. Judging by the look on his face, this helped some, but not nearly enough. "Well?" said Hermione. "Are you going to take back what you said about muggles?" Ron just looked away, so Alexa replied instead, in a voice harboring ill-concealed anger.

"I don't think he's going to, Hermione. He's not a bad person and he doesn't hate muggles, he just thinks we're useless compared to witches and wizards. But I'm going to prove him wrong. I can't work with people who have that kind of attitude, so I'm going to complete a dangerous and useful mission alone. I think I heard Harry lamenting our lack of news from Hogwarts the other day, so I'll infiltrate the castle and find out how your friends are doing. Wouldn't that boost everyone's morale?" A shocked silence followed these words. Even Ron seemed to have been startled out of his grim mood by Alexa's crazy suggestion. Feeling some remorse for his harsh words, he apologized, adding that such a mission would be impossibly difficult for any of them to complete without being detected. It was clear that Hermione considered the idea reckless and foolish, but Harry seemed torn. Noticing that everyone was looking at him, he mumbled something about Ginny, and how it might not be such a bad idea after all.

"How can you say that?" demanded Hermione. "I know you're worried about Ginny, but try to think clearly. Hogwarts is being run by Death Eaters! I can't see how Alexa would be able to get around without being detected, much less enter without being stopped, and if she were captured, that would be disastrous, remember? We're supposed to be protecting her." Harry shuffled his feet nervously.

"Well, I think Alexa's right, we would all feel a lot better with some news from the outside world. And certainly none of us could sneak in without being recognized, especially me, but no one there knows who Alexa is. Besides, I can tell she's itching to prove herself. If we don't let her do this, she'll probably just do something even more stupid." Alexa nodded, but Hermione frowned.

"What do you think, Ron?" she asked.

"I think, if she can pull this off, it would be awesome. I'd love some news of my sister and friends, and if Alexa can do this, no one will ever be able to doubt her again. So I say, if she thinks she can do it, all power to her, and we'll just have to rescue her again if she's caught."

"Fine. Fine! At least tell me your plan first Alexa, and let me approve it before you go. None of us want another disaster. Okay?" Hermione insisted.

"Of course," Alexa replied. "I have a few ideas, but I'll need some help from you especially to prepare. I'm not just going to rush in tonight, I'm going to make sure I'm ready. For now, though, I"m going to sleep. It's late." Alexa paused, then another thought struck her. "Hermione, I can take the horcrux for now since Ron can't finish his turn." she offered.

"No. We're not adding you to the rotation since you can't really protect it the way we can." Ron interjected. No one could disagree with this statement, so Alexa shrugged and went to bed. Harry, Ron, and Hermione soon followed suit.

The next morning, Alexa described her plans and preparation over breakfast. "We'll need some way of communicating. Hermione, can you still do that protean charm you used on the fake galleons for Dumbledore's Army?" Hermione nodded, so Alexa continued. "Excellent. Maybe you can use it on two balls of modelling clay, the type that doesn't dry out, so we can carve messages in it. Also, I need to be able to fight magic a little better. I've got a few ideas for that, so could one of you help me train after breakfast?"

"Sure thing," Harry immediately offered. "You know how much I enjoy training people to fight the dark arts." Harry, Ron, and Hermione smiled at the memory of their old defense club. Then Hermione brought herself back to the present.

"Those are certainly reasonable, if not essential preparations Alexa. But what was your actual plan?"

"One of you can apparate me to the cave near Hogsmeade, the one Sirius hid out in. Under cover of darkness, I'll sneak past the village and up to Hogwarts. I have a few different ideas about penetrating the magical protection that surrounds the grounds. Once I'm on the property, I'll hide out near the greenhouses and wait for a chance to make contact with Neville. He's certainly taking Herbology, and he's very trustworthy. I should be able to get news from him, then return to the cave. Of course I'll keep you updated about what's going on, and you can pick me up when I ask. I know I'll be fairly exposed on the grounds, but I'm pretty sneaky, and I'll only go in the open at night. Sound good?" Hermione considered this for a minute, while the others waited for her verdict. Finally, just as they were wrapping up the meal, she approved the plan.

Hermione dashed off to a secluded section of the tent, saying she needed peace and quiet to create the clay communicators. Alexa and the boys left her to it, exiting the tent to practice fighting. Ron settled down to watch while Alexa described her tactics to Harry.

"I can knock someone out if I'm close enough and they don't have a shield up, so the main thing will be dodging spells I suspect."

"That's probably correct." Harry assessed. "However, with knowledge of your strategy and abilities, any witch or wizard who has any brains will be able to easily defeat you. You're going to have to use the element of surprise, and you'll need to move quickly." Alexa nodded. "Alright then, lets just do some dodging practice for now. I'll try to hit you with a harmless spell like the jelly legs jinx, and you try to get close enough to touch me. Ready?" Alexa shifted into a fighting position, cleared her mind of distractions, then nodded again. Harry began to shoot spells at her, and she dodged each one with absolute focus. Then she started moving forward, almost dancing in her efforts to avoid the missiles. The closer she got to Harry, the less reaction time she had, and the harder it became. There were several very narrow misses, one of which hit Ron, but neither Harry nor Alexa noticed. Finally, Harry made to cast his jinx in one direction, then hit Alexa by anticipating her dodge. Her legs dissolved beneath her, and she collapsed onto the ground, panting from the exertion. "Not bad," Harry said, lifting the spell. "You're quite quick." Alexa smiled and thanked him, but Ron, who had already sorted out his own legs, just snorted.

"Ron's right," Alexa stated. "That wasn't good enough, I need a better strategy. Give me a minute to think about how you got me." She paced up and down for a few minutes, brows furrowed, while Harry and Ron waited. A sudden grin spread across her face, and she declared that she was ready to give it another go.

"What's your plan?" Harry asked.

"You'll see." Alexa replied smugly, "I think for now I'm going to follow your suggestion regarding the element of surprise." Harry chuckled a little.

"Fair enough. Let's see what you've got." They both assumed their fighting stances, then Harry began to send spells at Alexa. She dodged, but did not move forward. Instead, she allowed her mind to advance until she could sense Harry that way, and was pleased to find that he was focused on his magic; that this battle was at the forefront of his mind. Now that she could see what he was planning to do, she dodged every spell with remarkable precision, adjusting to avoid each one before Harry even cast it. He tried to feint a few times, but she still anticipated and countered his every move. In a matter of seconds, her well practiced strike halted just as her hand made contact with his neck, and the battle was over. Ron gaped.

"Wow, what did you do?" Alexa opened her mouth to answer, but Harry beat her to it.

"Let me guess . . . you were looking into my mind. I thought I sensed a foreign presence, although it was so subtle I couldn't be sure." Alexa nodded confirmation, and Harry continued. "The way you evaded every attack before I even made it also reminded me of another battle, one against Snape." His expression darkened at the memory. "He did the same thing, and he said that the only way to protect yourself from that is to use occlumency while fighting. So I have to warn you that even though your strategy will work great against people like me, there are also people like Snape out there who will shield their minds while fighting." Alexa nodded again, and they got back to work. Harry made it more challenging by darting away when Alexa got too close, hiding and trying to ambush her, using shield charms, and even attempting to shield his mind. Even though their exertions were limited by the size of the area protected by the enchantments, they were both exhausted by lunchtime. That afternoon they meditated instead, all except Hermione who was still working on the communicators. In the evening, she proudly showed them her completed project. Whenever the shape of one ball of clay was changed, the other changed as well. Hermione had put Alexa's in a box so that she could keep it in her pocket without smearing any messages they sent. Because of Hermione's success, and the progress Harry and Alexa had made, dinner was more cheerful than normal.

The next day, all four teenagers participated actively in Alexa's training. Monitoring three minds simultaneously and dodging three times as many spells proved extremely difficult. While Alexa could occasionally, with great effort, take out one of her opponents, that always seemed to leave her too mentally drained to handle the other two. She remembered how she had passed out after giving too much energy to her teammates, and suspected that this was related. However, perhaps now was not the time to give the matter her full attention, she thought as another jinx narrowly missed her.

That afternoon, Harry, Ron and Hermione finally achieved a full meditative state without assistance. This new development gave Alexa the final clue she needed to piece together her theory, and she excitedly described it over dinner.

"I think I figured out how the meditation helps with everything else I can do! She announced. "Each mind has a reservoir of mental energy, which holds a certain amount and replenishes at a certain rate. I'm not exactly sure where it comes from, but it is used for everything from monitoring a heartbeat to invading other minds. But it gets better! When you exercise your mind, through meditation or any other activity which uses a lot of that energy, you expand the reservoir and increase the rate at which it fills! Besides that, if you use up too much energy, you'll pass out until enough is replenished, but if you make contact with another mind, you can transfer your mental energy to them, like I did before to help you guys get into the meditation. Cool, right?"

"Oh! So that's why we can meditate properly ourselves now! And why you couldn't really monitor three people's minds at once. Does this mean that the more you do mental exercises, the more people you'll be able to fight at a time?" Hermione gushed, eyes sparkling as her joy of discovering new knowledge was rekindled.

"Sure does. It also means that you three should soon reach the point where you'll have enough mental energy to break out of your physical bodies and interact with other minds. Even now, if you visualize a protective wall, it should be much tougher than before against legilimency. Well done!" Alexa beamed, still thrilled at her breakthrough. Hermione smiled back, but seemed too tired, or perhaps grouchy, to respond.

After another few weeks of training, Alexa declared that she was ready to infiltrate the school of magic. The others agreed that she was as ready as she could be, so she packed some food, the communicator, and the wand she had taken from the Death Eater in preparation. Then, as the sun set, Hermione and Alexa apparated to the hidden cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think and stay tuned for more!


	4. Infiltration

As Hermione and Alexa materialized in the cave, they were startled to realize that they weren't alone. Alexa could only think of one person whose description matched the shadowy figure who sat on the floor of the cave.

"Hagrid!" Hermione exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Are you alright?"

"Hermione, how've yeh been doin? I've bin fine, jus' real worried abou' yeh. Where are Harry an' Ron?" Hagrid replied, giving Hermione a bone crushing hug. "An' who's this?" he added, turning to Alexa.

"Oh! It's so good to see you Hagrid. Harry and Ron are fine, they're back at the campsite. I'm just dropping Alexa here off, she's a new friend who's going to help us out with something at Hogwarts, but she can't apparate. Before I go, can you tell me how our friends were doing when you left the castle?"

"O'course Hermione. An' I'll be sure to help your friend if I can; any friend o' Harry's is a friend o' mine," Hagrid said, smiling at Alexa. Alexa smiled back gratefully, but didn't interrupt. Hagrid continued. "Last I saw 'em, they were all doin' okay, bu' not great. Them Carrows got th' whole school livin' in fear o' bein' punished real bad. Neville 'specially keeps gettin' on their nerves, an' he's lookin' a bit beat up. I left abou' a week ago though, got in trouble for hostin' a 'Support Harry Potter' party at my house. Brought Grawp wi' me o'course, he's wanderin' abou' in the valley now. He can take care o' himself pretty well." A note of pride entered Hagrid's voice at this last piece of information.

"I imagine he can. Well, thanks for the information, and it's great to see that you're doing okay, but I've got to run. Ron and Harry will get worried if I don't come back quickly enough. But maybe we can all come and visit you some time soon?"

"Tha'd be nice Hermione, bu' it's too risky. Yeh take care o' yerselves!"

"Bye Hagrid, good luck Alexa!" Hermione called, then twisted away into nothingness.

"I'd better go too. It was nice meeting you Hagrid, hopefully we will meet again, Alexa said. Hagrid told her to be careful, then she slunk away into the gathering darkness.

Alexa hiked for about an hour before she caught sight of Hogsmeade, but steered clear of it. She passed around, then followed the road from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts, but at a safe distance. Presently, she began to approach the crest of a hill, over which she hoped the castle would be visible. However, a strange feeling stole over her. Wasn't there something very important that she ought to be doing, far away from here? The urge to turn around and hurry back as fast as she was able very nearly overpowered her. She stopped walking, but resisted the force sending her back with every ounce of willpower she had.

"I will not go back," she said with her mind, sending the message a little way in front of her. Her mind hit a wall, but she felt her defiant thought weaken it. This must be the defense against muggles. Alexa decided to hit the wall with another thought. "I am going to Hogwarts, that is my urgent errand. I will not go back!" This time she was practically shouting with her mind, and she poured all of her mental energy that could be spared into it. The wall was strong, but it hadn't been designed to repel muggle minds such as Alexa's, and it shattered on impact. Alexa felt the strong force that gripped her mind recede, and she hurried through the gap that she had created. It closed behind her, but she wasn't worried, at least not about that. It didn't seem likely that it would try to prevent her from leaving. After resting to replenish her reservoir of mental energy, Alexa strode onwards, only to meet another obstruction almost immediately. Her arms, upper body, and legs passed through as if nothing was there, but her waist wouldn't go through. It was as if there was a completely solid wall, but only one area of her body was solid - the area where she was storing the wand she had stolen, she realized. Perhaps this barrier prevented any sources of magical power from entering. The clay communicator didn't seem to be affected, but then again wands were supposed to be semi-sentient. Regretfully she hid the wand, then continued unhindered.

Alexa finally reached the summit of the hill, then scowled across the dark landscape. Where Hogwarts should have been, was only a ruin. She decided that it would be easier to deal with this problem once she got closer, and resumed her stealthy approach. Suddenly, a cold feeling of dread stole over her.

"Dementors! No please, not dementors!" Alexa thought, panicking. Nothing was visible, but a rattling noise reached her ears. Unbidden, an image surfaced in her mind, consuming all thought. Brightly lit, white and clean, but horrifying. Her parents were laying on hospital beds, side by side. They were clearly breathing, but no other signs of life were visible. They might have been sleeping, except that their eyes were wide open, and their faces were twisted into expressions of absolute terror. Tears streamed down her face, and she called out to them, forgetting that they could not really be present. "Mom! Dad! I love you. Please don't leave me! Wake up!" She stopped abruptly as the vision began to change. Someone in white scrubs pushed another bed beside the others, then a team entered carrying a stretcher. They transferred the person on the stretcher to the bed, then moved aside so that she could see. The person on the bed beside her parents was in the same condition, and it was her. As Alexa gazed at her own face, unmoving and grotesquely contorted with fear, she realized that this was her future. "No," she thought. I can't let this happen. I've got to fight back, so I can make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else. Ever!" She tried to focus, to discipline her mind, but everything seemed to be slipping away, dissolving into darkness. The only thoughts she could summon were those of failure and despair, all she could see were her parents' tortured faces, and all she could hear was the sucking and rattling of the dementors. Trapped in her vision, she tried to escape, to run from the hospital as she had before, but she couldn't pass out of the hospital room. Down the hall, another person dressed in white scrubs was walking, and as they came closer, Alexa recognized them with a start. Apparently her mind had one last trick to assist her because it was Harry. "Of course," she thought as she hovered on the brink of consciousness, trying to focus on her pleasant memories of reading about him. "Expecto patronum." Speaking the words aloud did not summon a guardian, but did allow her to return to her own body. 

Alexa realized that she had collapsed, but sat up and assumed her meditative posture as quickly as she could. Senses other than sight told her that the invisible wraiths were drawing nearer, but there only seemed to be one of them close at hand. Still, she was cold all over, and her parents faces began to swim in her vision. Since she couldn't seem to banish them, Alexa focused on changing them. Instead of being empty shells, cold and distant, Alexa concentrated on them being warm and alive, the way they were that last night before disaster struck. They were hugging her, smiling and happy, as they wished her goodnight. The dementor's rattling threatened to siphon away the good feeling, but Alexa's focus was absolute. All those hours of meditation had paid off. She allowed the good feelings associated with her last happy memory to intensify and expand, until she was about to burst, then incorporated them into a shield around her mind. After increasing the shield beyond the usual borders of her mind, Alexa found that the dementor's influence began to fall away. It was as if she was cocooned in a bubble of silver light and warmth in the middle of a vast, cold sea of darkness. So intense was her visualization, Alexa felt like she really was glowing, although no one else would see that with their eyes.

Maintaining her glowing dementor shield, Alexa slowly got to her feet and continued towards the ruin that was Hogwarts. The dementor followed her for a little way, and was soon joined by others, trying to break down her shield, but they could not manage it with so few, not quickly. After a small distance they fell back, as if they were not permitted to venture any closer to the supposed castle.

Once she was well clear of the dementors, Alexa let her shield down once more, hid herself, and rested. She wished she'd thought to bring some chocolate with her. Feeling a bit better after her rest, she crept closer to the castle, patiently sneaking around the back towards the greenhouses, keeping to the deeper shadows just in case. When she felt that she was near enough to the castle itself, she glared at it, projecting her mind towards it, willing it to reveal itself. Almost sheepishly, the illusion fell away from her eyes, and Hogwarts in all its glory stood before her. Even though she was on a strict schedule, she couldn't help pausing to admire the magnificent castle rearing over the landscape. After all, she had been dreaming about arriving at this place for years. A wish that she'd hardly acknowledged, but had harbored since the day she first read about the school, had finally come true, in a way. This thought cheered her immensely, driving out the lingering effects of the dementors. Alexa paused for another moment, grinning up at the castle, then turned away to continue her hike.

When Alexa found the greenhouses, she took a few minutes to analyze the layout and plan her next move. She'd have to find a way to secretly contact Neville, or failing that, professor Sprout. Unfortunately, there wasn't any significant cover immediately next to the greenhouses, which were rectangular and easy to see around. Her best bet was to hide in the forest, she decided, which was near enough to give her a fair view of what was happening. She'd just have to be patient, and hope that either Neville or Sprout would come here alone. Reasonably pleased with this plan and familiar with the greenhouse area, Alexa slipped back under the eaves of the wood. She arranged some natural substrates to form an inconspicuous hiding place, then settled down to wait. Realizing she was exhausted, she dozed lightly for the rest of the night, not daring to sleep properly. At dawn, she brought herself back into a fully awake and alert state, and used the clay to send a brief message to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Since writing in the clay turned out to be a bit of a pain, all she told them was that she'd made it onto the grounds.

After a couple of hours of waiting, Alexa saw someone approaching the greenhouses. They were too far away to identify, so she remained still and silent, just watching. Several minutes later, it became apparent that the person was short, female, and had grey hair. As far as Alexa could remember this fitted the description of professor Sprout, so she stretched her mind out to verify that nobody else was coming, and that it was indeed Sprout. It seemed that the woman was alone, but that didn't mean she wasn't being watched. Alexa prodded her mind, and found that this was Pomona Sprout, as she had suspected, but before she saw any more information a barrier was raised, and she was cast out. Sprout drew her wand, glanced around warily, then said, "Who's there? Show yourself!" She seemed reluctant to unlock the greenhouse she had been making for, perhaps suspecting that an ambush waited within.

"I'm not your enemy," Alexa replied, as she stepped out of the forest with her hands up. Sprout peered around the greenhouse at her suspiciously, wand aimed at her.

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but don't make any sudden or hostile movements. You were poking around in my head. I have no reason to trust you, and every reason not to. So get into the greenhouse and explain yourself. This had better be good." Alexa nodded, and cautiously moved forward and entered the now open building. Instinctively reaching out with her mind to check the greenhouse for enemies, she gasped at the crowd of alien minds that surrounded her, forgetting for a moment that she was being held at wandpoint. Most of the plant minds here were much more similar to animal minds than other plant minds she had communicated with, but they were different in their own way as well. Alexa decided that they were probably the strangest, most magical minds she would ever meet. Before she could talk with them, however, Sprout interrupted her thoughts and reminded her of the present situation. "Explain yourself." she demanded, firmly, but not cruelly.

"May I speak freely?"

"Please do. This location is not currently being monitored."

"Harry Potter sent me to get some communication between his group and his friends at school. He wants to know if they are alright, what exactly is going on here, if there is any way that he can help the students here, or if they can help him. You can verify that he sent me by looking in my memories, I can make it easy for you to see the relevant ones." Sprout nodded her acceptance of this method of validation, cast homenum revelio to check for nearby enemies, then made intense eye contact with Alexa. Alexa brought some memories of her, Harry, Hermione, and Ron studying together in the evenings, eating meals, and Hermione voicing her acceptance of Alexa's plan. She deliberately left out any memories of them training together, or mentioning that Alexa wasn't magical, not wanting to explain those. Sprout was able to enter her mind and find the correct memories, but wasn't a good enough legilimens to find more. Seemingly satisfied, Sprout withdrew, and apologized for her suspicious behavior.

"Don't be sorry. Here and now, it is not suspicion and paranoia, it is intelligence and caution. Can you help me get in contact with Neville?"

"Yes. I often have him stay a few minutes after class anyway, to answer advanced questions on the material, or just to chat. If I leave you in here for a few hours until the Gryffindors have class, will you be able to stay out of trouble? Some of the plants in here are dangerous to the untutored."

"I will be fine, thanks a lot. I'll see you soon then." With that, Sprout started preparing for her first class, and Alexa crept underneath some plants at the far side of the greenhouse. Of course, she asked them for permission first. Like with other nonhuman animal minds, she could exchange feelings and images, but not words. At first, she could tell that they were inclined to trap and strangle anyone who came close enough, but she conveyed the impression that she was friendly with them and their caretaker, and they grew less hostile. Next, she clearly visualized herself crawling underneath them to hide from other humans, and shared this image with the vines. To her surprise, the formerly immobile vines moved aside, creating a space just large enough for her to enter. Throwing caution to the winds, Alexa settled herself among the magical plants, taking her usual care not to harm other life when possible. The vines instantly closed around her, not attacking, but hiding her from view. Alexa sent grateful feelings to her new protectors, and prepared herself for another long wait.

The first thing Alexa did, once she had time to kill again, was to send another message to Hermione, Harry, and Ron. They had replied to her earlier message of 'On grounds' with 'Details? Stay safe'. Alexa squished the clay flat again, and carved, 'talked to Sprout, soon Neville' on the surface, carefully replacing it in it's box so the message would remain legible until they noticed it. They were probably asleep at the moment, but she would check it soon in case whoever was keeping watch was also keeping an eye on the clay. Then, with nothing better to do, Alexa continued communicating with the plants surrounding her. It was easiest to talk to the vines, since they were right next to her, but she also greeted the other plants in the immediate vicinity. She soon discovered that the vines belonged to several different individual plants of the same type, each with its own personality. One of them was especially curious about her, and she found herself telling her life story to this plant, in images and impressions. In return, the plant shared its experiences with her. It had grown up in this very greenhouse, tended by the nice human, but had left for a while once. It had gone to a dark, damp place, where it lived in peace for a long time, until several people had crushed it and burned it. Although the place had been pleasant in general, the attacks had made the experience overall a very bad memory. It hadn't stayed there forever, but had been brought back to the greenhouse shortly after the attacks and had been there ever since, trying to catch the small humans. The vine confessed that this was very confusing, and that they wouldn't mind escaping the greenhouse to explore the wider world on their own terms. This gave Alexa an idea, so she visualized herself taking the vine with her on the grounds of the school, in the forest, on the streets of London, and in the woods with the teenage fugitives. The happy and excited feelings pouring off of the curious vine made it clear to her that she had found an ally.

After sitting silently through a couple of herbology classes and receiving a 'good' in the clay, Alexa heard Sprout calling for her to come out. Detecting only one other human nearby, who seemed to be Neville, she visualized the vines moving apart for her, which they did. Neville had already been informed as to her reasons for coming, and got straight to the point.

"Things at Hogwarts are pretty bad. None of the students have died, but everyone's been hurt except for the death eaters in training. I think they are in trouble as well actually, they just don't get punished in public. The Carrows are death eaters who are teaching Muggle Studies and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and they are in charge of discipline. They have twisted Muggle Studies into blood purism propaganda, Defense into simply Dark Arts, and discipline into torture. Ginny, Luna, and I have been trying to stand up to them, but it's not going great. We've been getting into a lot of trouble, and most everybody else except for the old members of the DA are too scared to help. I could really use some advice from Harry, since he was the leader back when we were fighting Umbridge. I'm not sure what to do, honestly, and everyone seems to expect me to take charge and tell them what to do, just because I started this whole thing. As for what we can offer Harry, I'm not sure what we really have. I guess we have a fair number of people, and access to the library, but that's about it. What does he need?"

"Okay, so I don't know everything, and I'm no leader either. Can you smuggle this clay into the school? If you write in it Harry or Ron or Hermione will see your message, and can write back. Also, I might be able to help out. I mean, I want to help, and I won't be tied to classes or rules or anything if I can sneak around the castle." Alexa had a feeling that staying unnoticed in a magical castle might not be as easy as she had made it sound, but she really did want to do something. Harry would want her to, surely. Neville's reply did not disappoint her.

"Hmmm. I'm not sure . . . actually, there is something you can help with. I was thinking of creating some sort of hideout or secret base for our rebellion, probably in the Room of Requirement like last time, but I haven't been able to pull it off yet. I'm just being watched too closely to get up there during the day, and at night there are too many patrols. If you could sneak up there, that would be super helpful. Also, thanks for this clay. I've got to go to class now, but tonight I'll leave an invisible rope hanging from Gryffindor tower so you can get into the castle." With that he was gone, and Sprout checked that the coast was clear, before indicating that she should leave the greenhouse. While Alexa had been talking to Neville, the vine had crawled over to her, and climbed up under her shirt, so Sprout didn't notice that she was smuggling a highly dangerous Devil's Snare out in a way that should have been impossible.


End file.
